Amount of bone and bone remodelling in normal subjects and in patients with chronic renal failure

Assessment of bone mineral content and bone mass by non-invasive radiologic methods

Methods for quantitative determination of bone mineral and bone mass in normal subjects and in patients with metabolic bone disorders can be measured by the Compton scattering technique, the neutron activation analysis, by measurement of metacarpal bone mass, by single and dual photon absorptiometry, and by quantitative computed tomography. Measurement on metacarpal bone (radiogrammetry) seems to be able to distinguish between resorption and/or new bone formation at the periosteal and/or endosteal surface. The intraindividual observer variation on combined cortical thickness (D-d), cortical area (D2-d2), metacarpal bone mass (D2-d2)/D2-varies from 0.7 to 2.5 per cent and the interindividual observer variation from 1.0 to 5.8 per cent. Single photon absorptiometry measures bone mineral content in the forearm with great precision. The reproducibility using repeated measurements and automatic selection of the measuring area is about one per cent and can be used to follow changes in mineral content with time in patients with metabolic bone diseases. The dual photon absorptiometry may be used for measurements of bone mineral content in lumbar spine, in the femoral neck and measurement of total body calcium with an accuracy of less than 6 per cent and a precision below 3 per cent. Quantitative computed tomography has the ability to measure trabecular and cortical bone both centrally and peripherally. Using CT scanning, scanner related changes with time (day-to-day variation +/- 4%), patient repositioning (less than 1.5%), and fat concentration (residual uncertainty of approximately 1/6 of the biologic variation) are important factors influencing the accuracy and reproducibility of the values of the measured bone mineral content.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Quantitative metacarpal bone measurements before and after renal transplantation

The outer (D) and inner diameter (d) of the second metacarpal bone, the combined cortical thickness (D-d), cortical area (D2-d2) and bone mass [D2d2)/D2) were measured in 74 renal transplant (RT) recipients at the time of renal transplantation and in a prospective analysis of 60 recipients after transplantation. The RT patient group was made up of recipients who after renal transplantation developed osteonecrosis or spontaneous fractures (RT-ON/SF) and an age- and sex-matched renal control group of subjects who did not develop these complications (RT-C). At the time of renal transplantation, in renal transplant recipient men and women, significantly reduced values in D, D-d and D2-d2 was noticed. These findings could be explained by a higher ratio of bone resorption than formation at the periosteal surface. Following renal transplantation, significant increases in d were seen with significant decreases in D-d, D2-d2 and (D2-d2)/D2, probably due to endosteal bone resorption, whereas D was unchanged compared with normal control persons. In the total group and in RT-ON/SF women, D decreased significantly and in ON/SF, increased significantly with significant decrease in bone mass compared with normal women whereas no significant changes in the parameters were seen in RT-C women. These findings indicate that bone loss after transplantation continues at the periosteal surface in women. The bone loss was most markedly demonstrated in women, who subsequently develop osteonecrosis or spontaneous fractures, probably due to a combined periosteal and endosteal resorption of calcified bony tissue.